I just had a thought that made me shudder

[iliveforcurves]

By now everybody knows that Honda used the Interstate name on their bagger version of the 1300cc V-twin cruiser.  What if they decide to give the Valkyrie name to another lesser bike in their lineup?  I think if they did that it would be grounds for us Valkyrie riders to file a class action lawsuit for diluting the Valkyrie name!

[Momz]

Honda doesn't give a crap about the Valkyrie, VRCC, or even Gold Wing nomemclature.
Interstate was first used on the mid-level GL1100.

Honda doesn't care about what people really want,....if they did, then there would still be a Valkyrie in their current line up.

[RLD]

What if they decide to give the Valkyrie name to another lesser bike in their lineup?

They already did, it's called the "rune" or is it "ruin".

No offense to those that love em, I just don't.

[MCRIDER]

Honda doesn't give a crap about the Valkyrie, VRCC, or even Gold Wing nomemclature.
Interstate was first used on the mid-level GL1100.

Honda doesn't care about what people really want,....if they did, then there would still be a Valkyrie in their current line up.

I disagree.  People didn't want the Valk.  Honda made it, not enought people bought it, so it was dropped.  Honda isn't in the market to build cult bikes. 

[Chrisj CMA]

I believe the real reason for the demise of the Valkyrie (as far as manufacturing) is the fact that WE Valkyrie owners turned what was meant to be a hot rod bar hopper into a serious bike and they didnt want to be in competition with theirselves GW vs Valk

Just look at what they replaced the Valk with........1800VTX  hot rod bar hopper

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Could be some of both. They certainly weren't selling at the time as people have written about buying 2 year old models still in the crates.

[FLAVALK]

Ford did it with the Mustang II   

[ChromeDome]

Personally, I think that Honda has been taken over by the marketing department and Harley clones sell. I do not think there was ever any real competition between the GoldWing and the Valkryie since they each attract different riders, nor do I think that sales where that bad (even the GoldWing took time to catch on). Some where some how the boys in marketing took over the company, noticed that everyone was offering a Harley clone and decided that’s the way to go.

[RoadKill]

It is all marketing (catering to the "fine Americans" )  Pirates with "Harley attitudes " Dont want quality..They want slow and noisy,looks like a badass chopper and my neighbor will be jealous. If they would buy bikes with refinement we would still have a true Valk.
 HarleyDavidson has gone the other direction by improving their machine while Honda backwards engineers trying to compete with a name recognition issue. Harley has the name and quality + rideability has come A LONG WAY ! Honda is trying to appeal to the dimwits that just want the affordable harley clone because that is the majority with the dollars    

[Bobbo]

It is all marketing (catering to the "fine Americans" )  Pirates with "Harley attitudes " Dont want quality..They want slow and noisy,looks like a badass chopper and my neighbor will be jealous. If they would buy bikes with refinement we would still have a true Valk.
 HarleyDavidson has gone the other direction by improving their machine while Honda backwards engineers trying to compete with a name recognition issue. Harley has the name and quality + rideability has come A LONG WAY ! Honda is trying to appeal to the dimwits that just want the affordable harley clone because that is the majority with the dollars    

Unfortunately, you are probably right...   

[solo1]

Yeah, i think that Honda picked the easy way out with their Vtwins.  Lots and lots of them used and new at dealers as a result.

On the other hand, Yamaha still makes the Vmax and Kawa made the Concours for a long time, must be a different business philosophy. Neither one of them sells like they once did.

 Honda is more in the car business, I don't think they care much about the motorcycle end of it.

[Daniel Meyer]

Could be some of both. They certainly weren't selling at the time as people have written about buying 2 year old models still in the crates.

I dunno...here in Dallas you couldn't get one. They were selling *over* list and the dealer never had more than one or two at a time until the 2001 model.

I never got to lay hands on one until the 2001 model year. I bought that one. He only had two in stock and the other one was sold before it got there.

So, all these unsold ones must have been sent to hoboken or something to sit there unsold...

[Serk]

Daniel - I hate to contradict ya', but I bought my brand new in the crate leftover 1998 Valkyrie from Al Lamb's in Dallas on December 23rd 2000... (For a VERY good price, no less... ($8999 brand new))

IMHO, the problem with the Valk was two fold:

It was taking away sales from the GoldWing

But most importantly, the relatively few enlighted people who understood that cruiser != V-Twin exclusively already had a Valkyrie...

Edit - Your post stands, seeing as by December of 2000, the 2001 model years were out...

[alph]

honda used the interstate name on the gold wing, then on the valkyrie, not on a v-twinkie.  it doesn't matter if they call their next lawn mower an interstate, to me, the valkyrie will always be the valkyrie, and my interstate will always be MY interstate.  (if they made an interstate lawn mower, i bet it will be just as sweet as mine!)

[f6john]

     Several things come to mind when I consider the history of the Valkyrie and it's followers. First it's not for everybody, it's not a V twin which in some peoples eyes is the only thing that "looks" or "sounds right". Even though we lament the passing of production and possible improvements such as 6 speeds and fuel injection the Valkyrie was built in sufficient numbers to at least keep us the Valkyrie "nuts" with bikes and parts for a good while.
     I hope to see a progression of owners who will as time goes by experiment more and more with custom rebuilds and performance enhancements that will keep the Valkyrie a headturner or a "what was that!!!" kind of ride for a long time. I have seen an increase of these kinds of bikes showing up on the forum in the past few months.
     We are kind of where the hot rodders of the 40's and 50's were when there was little speed equipment and no catalog cars. You want it, you build it. I'm grateful for the few commercial vendors we have still supplying parts specific for our bikes but I'm pretty sure we won't see much new development for a bike whose numbers grow smaller with each crash that takes place.
     I own a 47 Mercury, 64 Barracuda, and  67 Chevelle and I never concern myself with what the mfg may come out with and slap on a name from the past.  When you ride a Valkyrie, people may still wonder what it is but they will know that they just saw one of the most distinctive bikes ever put on the road.

[john]

nobody ask me ... i know     
the way i heard it was that honda was eager to get their new 1800 cc  goldwing on the market so they  put it out there ...
and that they had a warehouse full of the 1520 cc engines left  ...     
joe boyd designed and honda built the valkyrie we all know to use up the 1520 cc goldwing engines .
thats what i was  " told " ...       
made since and i believed it ... truth ... i can't say     

[bigdog99]

"As sales eventually dwindled, the Interstate and Tourer models were dropped after 2001, leaving only the Standard model remaining. 2003 saw the Standard offered only in black and was the last year of the original Valkyrie." copied from internet

apparently we all had at least 1, i od know that if something happens ahd they re-make the legend, (of course with fuel injection and the 2000cc motor) i would buy 1. i have 80k now and they have approximately 120k to decide to do that. 

[Big IV]

I was waiting for this threat to bubble up somewhere.  My problem with the initial post is that the term interstate is fairly generic. Any touring bike could and probably will be called an interstate. When they start getting into reusing the specific names (such as SilverWing, Aspencade) on multiple different bikes that seems odd. Although at this point it would not be unprecedented.

I do agree that these bikes are great, but that they didn't sell well initially in enough quantities, and that they don't upsell well. I still think that the gold wing and shadow lines were both better at selling a person a bike, then before it was paid off (or shortly after) selling them the new improved version of the bike.

I would doubt that the Valk name, image, and logos will grace the sides of a tank again but stranger things have happened. Only time will tell.

[Valkahuna]

Honda is not your "friend". They don't know us, especially since we all love a product that they as a company don't gain from. We are no longer their "customers"!

Honda is strictly a publicly owned company, and like all of them needs to make profit. They are as good or better an engineering company (not in innovations, but in refinement) and better manufacturer than most companies that are out there.

If tomorrow the motorcycling public wanted and bought (in large quantities) dual purpose bikes like the BMW Dakar version, you can bet that Honda would make a cursed good one of that, and figure a way to advertise it and make it so that they could be profitable.

Any other notion than that is strictly sentimental and romantic. When the Valk stopped selling in great enough quantities, and consequently had to be discounted to sell, that was it. When you look at the equipment, parts, and content of our beloved Valks, I can assure you that the margin of profit was low already. When that dwindled, that was it! I do believe that the Interstate model of the Valkyrie was dropped due to competition with the GW. It was a lower priced choice that directly competed with the GW and therefore it was dropped.
 

[Chattanooga Mark]

Come on now. There's not a Valkyrie in the current Honda lineup because towards the end of their life; Valkyries didn't sell. Not all that many years ago brand new leftover Interstates were going for $9,999. Honda is in the motorcycle business to sell motorcycles. Try as they might, they don't always get things right but they don't discontinue a line that's selling or making money.

$0.02,

Mark

[Tropic traveler]

I think it was a combination of things that led to the Valkyrie's drop. I don't totally buy the "lack of sales" thing as there are still lots of leftover past year bikes available in a lot of brands. I think that the death of Boyd & the resulting corporate internal strife that invariably happens along with the "V-twin mania" of the time was more influential. I've seen lots of leftover VTX's at Honda dealers for several years now. Notice too that the rising success of the Honda car biz was happening at the same time. I look for a similar lack of attention to the Suzuki motorcycle line up as the car biz catches on there. Cars are where the $$$ is.
Anyways, until someone comes out with a new flat 6 powered cruiser, I'll keep on riding & fixing these old girls!

[iliveforcurves]

Could the reason Honda dropped the Valkyrie be because they ran out of 1520 engines?  If it wasn't too difficult to do, Honda could have used the 1800 engine and continued to make Valkyries.  I don't know if the GL1800 engine will fit in the Valkyrie frame, probably not since the GL1800 frame is totaly different.
I'm just hoping the Valkyrie name doesn't show up on a scooter!

[sugerbear]

i don't really care why, just glad they built them so i could have one.

[john]

the valkyrie RUNE has the 1800 motor...   
they when  to "far out " in the redeisign of the thing ...   
still ... i hope one day to own one 
 

[Duckwheat]

If this travesty unfolds as you describe, how will your life be impacted in a negative way?

If you are down to worrying about this kind of minutia you need to find something in your life that is meaningful. Volunteer somewhere! Help a kid out and do something with them. Start gardening and contribute to the local food bank.

Good luck with getting on track.

DW

[iliveforcurves]

Maybe I should have prefaced my post with "I don't spend much time thinking about this, but..."  The thought just came to me and I was wondering if anybody else thought the same way (this is a forum after all).
RoadKill, Tropic traveler and Valkahuna brought up some points I hadn't thought about.  It looks like accountants are running the company.
It looks like Honda painted themselves into a corner with the Valkyrie.  When you ride a Valk there's nothing to upgrade to and they last forever.
If Honda puts the Valkyrie name on a scooter it won't be long before people forget where the name was used originally.  How many people today know that the Silver Wing was a small touring bike and not a big scooter?
Duckwheat, my post seems to have caused your panties to get in a knot, and for that I apologize.

[valkmc]

Could the reason Honda dropped the Valkyrie be because they ran out of 1520 engines?  If it wasn't too difficult to do, Honda could have used the 1800 engine and continued to make Valkyries.  I don't know if the GL1800 engine will fit in the Valkyrie frame, probably not since the GL1800 frame is totaly different.
I'm just hoping the Valkyrie name doesn't show up on a scooter!

End of the 1520 motor was part of it, add the lack of sales and competing with the GW and it was the end. Honda was not going to re-tool to make a bike with a new engine when it was not selling with the old one.

[B]

Bad enough that they 'b@st@rdized' the Interstate name on that little vtwin.

[Duckwheat]

Duckwheat, my post seems to have caused your panties to get in a knot, and for that I apologize.[/quote]

No problem. With a little fabric softener they should be good as new.

DW